Though his grandfather worked in the athletic department of Arizona State University, Cooper attended the University of Washington. He graduated with a degree in sociology and was a member of the Pac-10 All-Conference team in 2003.[4] Cooper and wife Rebekah, who met while attending the University of Washington,[5] have a daughter named Delaney Christine.[3] In the offseason, the family lived in Tampa, Florida.[5]

On March 1, 2009, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that a 21-foot fishing boat was missing off the Gulf Coast near Clearwater, Florida. The boat was carrying four passengers: Cooper, Corey Smith, and two former University of South Florida football players, Nick Schuyler and Will Bleakley.[6] The four men left Clearwater Pass on February 28 at 6:30 a.m. and were expected to return later that night. The Coast Guard began searching for the missing boat shortly after midnight on March 1, 2009. By 1:35 p.m. local time on March 2, 2009, the boat had been located, overturned, with Schuyler clinging to it.[7]

The search for the three missing men was called off by the Coast Guard, but friends and relatives organized their own search.[8] The private search was called off on March 6.[9] Cooper, Smith, and Bleakley are presumed dead.[2] On March 11, Cooper's wife filed for a death certificate in civil court.[10]

On March 25, 2009, a report was released based on a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigation into the capsizing; the investigation included interviews with Schuyler (the survivor) and an inspection of the boat. The report concluded the following:[11]

the anchor line was tied to the port-side transom as part of a (mistaken) plan to free the anchor;

the vessel, which had a 200 horsepower (150 kW) motor, was then throttled forward;

the rear of the vessel was pulled into the water because the vessel's motor had been throttled without enough slack in the anchor line; and

the capsizing ejected the operator and occupants into rough Gulf waters.

The conclusions were accompanied by additional details from the Schuyler interviews. According to Schuyler, after the capsizing, he and the other three men, all wearing flotation devices, struggled overnight to remain on top of the capsized hull of the boat, with water reaching chest-high over the partially submerged hull and waves of approximately 6 feet. Cooper and Smith became non-responsive and separated from the vessel between 5:30 and 6:30 the morning of March 1, and Bleakley became non-responsive and separated about 24 hours later, which was less than six hours before Schuyler was rescued. The investigator described the symptoms Schuyler witnessed as characteristic of hypothermia.[12]